1. On the third and concluding day of the first Legislature session, U.T. Khader will be elected Speaker. He will be the first Muslim to serve as Speaker of Karnataka. The former Minister and five-time MLA was persuaded to take up the job after other senior party leaders and former ministers R.V. Deshpande and H.K. Patil did not show interest in the job.
2. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar are expected to leave for New Delhi to discuss Cabinet expansion, with several contenders for ministerial berths and the two leaders not seeing eye-to-eye on many choices. Against the sanctioned strength of 34, there are too many aspirants for ministerial berths.
3. Congress Legislature Party meeting, chaired by Siddaramaiah, was held this morning. He told the legislators that people have very high expectations of the government, and they have a responsibility to live up to them. Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar said the party should strive to get at least 20 seats in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
